Maybe Not Everything
by ChloeRhiannonX
Summary: She used to believe that falling in love would be just like the movies. She was naive and foolish, but she just didn't know it yet. Cover photography by MKMack.


_**Maybe Not Everything**_

She used to believe that falling in love wold be just like the movies. Boy meets girl; happy ending. It wasn't until Courtney Taylor was well into her teenage years that she discovered that fairy tale endings were left just for the movies. Boy meets girl was never the simple story anyone wanted it to be. Relationships came with hard work and problems. They took constant care and nurturing to grow into something wonderful. Happy endings didn't show the struggle. Happy endings didn't exists in the harsh reality Courtney found herself in.

She was fifteen when she first got asked on a date. He was a year older than she was, but they had shared Algebra together for the school year so far, and she was helping to tutor him in it. He asked her to Homecoming during a tutoring session one day, and who was Courtney to say no. He was Justin Blake. He was the school hottie. He was that boy that had a pack of girls to followed him around like he was some movie star. There was no reason for Courtney not to believe that this boy was straight from a movie, the kind where boy meets girl...

She was naive and foolish, but she just didn't know it yet. Courtney went along with the hype: hair, make-up, shoes, and dress. The list of preparations went on for too long. She'd never had to worry about anything like this before, but the night itself was perfect. He picked her up; drove them both to the school; whisked her off her feet all night, round and round on the dance floor; offered her his jacket when they went walking outside; kissed her under the stars, the way Courtney had dreamed off her whole life. She swore she felt butterflies. But what came next turned her away.

He was supposed to drop her home afterwards. It wasn't a school night but Courtney had a strict curfew. They climbed into his car, waved goodbye to friends. It was until they were six miles in the wrong direction did the butterflies in Courtney's stomach start to lose consciousness.

He told her to relax, to sit back and enjoy the drive. They had a little time, she tried not to worry. But when they pulled up to the familiar off-beat parking lot, Courtney couldn't help but be overrun with fear. She'd heard rumors of this place, never thinking she'd be the kind of girl to end up here with a boy in his car near curfew. This was a place for the Heather Lee's and Lindsay James' of the world; people Courtney found herself nothing alike.

She didn't remember much of what happened during the rest of that night. She tried to push him away. She tried to get him to see sense. His mouth was all over her, slopping kisses on any piece of open skin he could reach. His hands slid higher under her skirt, tearing at the fabric, begging her to hold still. Courtney cried out, hoping for it to be over soon. And it was.

He only let her go when the door to his car ripped open, and a lowly voice from outside told him to back off. Justin fought him, of course. This was no one's business but their own, according to him. Courtney couldn't see the stranger, but she cried out to him before Justin's hands were on her mouth to quieten her.

She didn't know how he got her date out of the car, but the stranger managed to distract him long enough for Courtney to push her way out the other side. She was dazed and confused and running as fast as she could in her bare feet (her impractical heels were lost in the car). She didn't know what to do. She had no way to get home other than walk, and that was a dangerous path during the day, let alone after the sun went down. Her parents were no doubt worried sick. Courtney was left heartbroken and sick on the side of the road, thinking over how her night could have gone so disastrously wrong. It was her first brush with heartache and left her with a headache as loud as could be. Thoughts of perfection and happy endings danced around, crowding her mind. It was then she started to believe that boy meets girl wasn't the whole story.

She didn't know him when his car pulled against the sidewalk. The window rolled down and he asked if she needed a ride home. She didn't know him, but she knew his voice. Courtney figured he'd followed her out from the old parking lot after scaring away her date. There wasn't much choice but to get in the car with the stranger that saved her day.

He didn't say much at first, kept quiet and in the dark. Courtney kept herself occupied turning her head from side to side; glancing at him and then out the window when she suspected he could see her watching. She didn't say much either, grateful for the silence his broken radio was giving them. There was tension in the air, buzzing between them, unspoken. She wanted to thank him but didn't know how. Saving her from that jerk was worth more than a few simple words. In the end she settled for giving him a friendly smile as she climbed out of his car when they pulled up to her house, hoping her parents were already asleep so the questions could wait until the morning.

He waited until she had reached her front door to speed off. Courtney couldn't see him from where she stood on the porch but she could tell he was watching her carefully, almost as if her date was about to jump out from the bushes to attack her. Courtney pinched her lips tightly at the thought. With one final look, she opened the door, daring to watch the race tracks her left on her street, and leaving Courtney wondering who the hell he was.

 **A/N: This may be a piece of shit but it's 1:18am and I'm feverish and delirious.**

 **It's been a long time since I posted anything...It's been a long time since I wrote anything! I've got a few bits and pieced floating here and there. Prologues or first chapters I never worked up the nerve to post. If you guys are interested I'll post them?**

 **Also, this is hopefully gonna be multi chap, and hopefully I will not abandon it...**

 **Thoughts? Premonitions? Rude comments about my lack of updating?**

 **Thanks for reading, please review (:**

 **Love, ChloeRhiannonX**


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